Compressor for carbon dioxide snow



March 28, 1939.

J. KOBOLD COMPRESSOR FOR CARBON DIOXIDE SNOW Original Filed March 12,1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l March 28, 1939. .1. KOBOLD COMPRESSOR FOR CARBONDIOXIDE SNOW Original Filed March 12, 1935 yzzvezzfor 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented Mar. 28, 1939 PATENT OFFICE COMPRESSOR- FOR CARBON DIOXIDE SNOWJosef Kobold, Esslingen-on-the-Neckar, Ger- 1 many, assignor toMaschinenfabrik Esslingen,

Esslingen-on-the-Neckar, Germany Original application March 12, 1935,Serial No.

10,610. Divided and this application September 21, 1937, Serial No.164,916. In Germany March 23, .1934- 5 Claims.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for compressing carbondioxide snow into blocks of dry ice.

This case is a division of my former case Ser.

-No. 10,610. filed Mar. 12, 1935, now Patent No.

2,127,300, granted. Aug. 16, 1938.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus forcompressing carbon dioxide snow into dry ice, whereby large blocks ofdry ice can be obtained, and the snow producing chambers to which thecompression apparatus is connected temporarily or permanently may haveany desired dimensions and can be of large capacity.

A further object of the present invention resides in the provision of anapparatus for compressing carbon dioxide snow into dry ice by means ofwhich large blocks of dry ice of any cross sectional dimensions can beobtained and whereby the density of the ice is homogeneous over thewhole block.

Another object of this invention is to provide arr apparatus forcompressing carbon dioxide snow into dry ice by means of which largeblocks of dry ice can be made and whereby the center part of the blockis prepressed, and a particularly dense core of the block is obtained.

Another object of this invention resides in the provision of anapparatus for compressing carbon dioxide snow into dry ice by means ofwhich large blocks of dry ice of great specific weight can be obtained.

Further and other objects of the present invention will be hereinafterset forth in the accompanying specification and claims and shown in thedrawings which, by way of illustration, show what I now consider to be apreferred embodiment of my invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a part cross sectional side view of an apparatus according tomy invention taken along line I-I in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a part cross sectional top view of an apparatus according tomy invention taken alongline 2-2 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a part cross sectional side view of a modified apparatusaccording to my invention, the part shown in section being like theapparatus shown in Fig. 2 and the section being taken along line 3-3 inFig. 2.-

Fig. 4 is a part cross sectional side view of an apparatus according tomy invention as shown in Fig. 3 and having provisions for making blocksof various cross sectional configurations.

Like parts are designated by like numerals in all figures of thedrawings.

Referring more particularly to the drawings: I represents the centerpart of a compression chamber having lateral parts 2, 3, and 4. Parts 2and 3 formextension chambers which are in line adjacent toandcommunicating with the central compression chamber I. The centralcompression chamber I is filled with carbon dioxide snow through thecharge conduit 5 which is connected to one of the lateral parts, namely,part 4 which may be termed the loading chamber. The dotted line circle5' of Fig. 2 indicates the configuration of the mouth with which conduit5 terminates in part 4. The'width of part 4,is independent of thedimensions of the center part of the chamber or its other lateral partsand may have large cross sectional dimensions. Charge conduit 5 may bedirectly connected to the producer of the carbon dioxide snow or be partof the producer which, for the before stated reasons, may have largecross sectional dimensions and great capacity.

The carbon dioxide snow having a cylindrical configuration as indicatedby the dotted circle 5 and entering lateral part 4 is pushed towards thecenter part of the compression chamber by means of piston 6, the crosssection of which conforms with theinterior cross section of part 4which, in the embodiment shown, is rectangular. Piston 6 is adapted toslidably move within part 4. Piston .rod I connects piston Ii with anoperating piston 8- adapted to reciprocatingly move within operatingcylinder 9 having admission and outlet openings I and ,II for thepassage of an operating medium inmid out of I cylinder 9. When in theposition furthest inward, i. e., closest to center part I, the frontsurface I2 of piston 6 closes the opening formed by the intersection ofpart 4 and center part I and forms, together with lateral parts 2 and 3,a continuous chamber consisting of parts 2, I, and 3. Part 2 serveschiefly for receiving the counter piston I3 which is mounted on cover I4for closing part 2 of the compression chamber. Piston I3 and cover I4are mounted to a piston rod 1' carrying operating pistont' adapted toreciprocatingly move within operating cylinder 9' and to thereby operatepiston I3. I is the compression piston proper operating in part 3 of thecompression chamber. In the embodiment of the invention shown, piston I5and chambers I and 3 have rectangular cross sectional config-. urationas indicated by the dotted rectangular outline I. Piston I3 may becircular or rectangular. Similarly as are the other pistons, piston I5is provided with and operated by piston rod 'I" carr ying piston 8"operating in cylinder 9". The snow is first pushed into center part I bymeans of piston 6 and then further compressed by piston I5, while pistonI3 either stands still and prevents the exit of snow and dry ice throughoutlet opening I6 of part 2 or moves toward the center part of thecompression chamber and counter to piston I5. Pistons 6 and I5 may alsosimultaneously or during part of their strokes simultaneouslyandconsecutively during another part of their strokes toward center partI. It is obvious that, by this action of the pistons andtheconfiguration of the compression chamber, a homogeneous and effectivecompression of the snow is obtained; of particular importance is theprecompression of the mass of snow by means of piston 6, whereby a solidcore is created in the ice block in contradistinction to other methods,whereby the core of the ice block is usually quite soit. With my methodand apparatus, the snow is actively compressed from three sides, and thehighest possible specific weight of the dry ice block having arectangular cross section as indicated by the dotted outline I' isobtained.

With my method and apparatus, blocks of dry ice of any desired crosssectional configuration can be obtained. For example, if cylindricalblocks are desired, piston I5 shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 as havingrectangular cross section is replaced by a cylindrical piston I5, andthe face I2 of piston 6, which is fiat when making blocks of rectangularcross section, is provided with a mould II having a. half-cylindricalsurface as shown in Fig. 4. A corresponding mould I8 is inserted intothe center part I of the compression chamber and opposite to mould I'I.Insertion or changing of such moulds and of piston I5 requires verylittle time and effort.

The compression apparatus according to my invention and as described maybe mounted on wheels as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4 and, thereby, beadapted to serve a plurality of carbon dioxide snow generators I9; thesegenerators may have large dimensions and capacity for the previouslydescribed reasons, and the number of individual generator cylinders canbe considerably reduced in plants using my new compression system as-compared'with plants using other compression systems.

While I believe the above described embodious modifications will occurto a personskllled in the art.

What I claim is:

1. An apparatus for compressing carbon dioxide snow into blocks of dryice comprising a central compression chamber, a loading chamber adjacentto and communicating with said central compression chamber, lateralextension chambers being in line, adjacent to, and communicating withsaid central chamber, a compression piston in said loading chamber andin each of said extension chambers, and an operating mechanismassociated with each of said pistons adapted to move said pistons towardand from said central chamber,

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said central chambertogether with said loading chamber and said lateral extension chambersform a T.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said central chamber,said loading chamber, and said lateral extension chambers are all in asubstantially horizontally positioned plane.

4. An apparatus for compressing carbon dioxide snow into blocks of dryice comprising a central compression chamber, a loading chamber adjacentto and communicating with said central chamber, lateral extensionchambers being in line, adjacent to, and communicating with said centralchamber, a compression piston in said loading chamber having anoperating front surface, a piston in each said extension chambers, anoperating mechanism associated with each of said pistons and adapted tomove said pistons toward and from said central chamber, an exchangeablemould attached to the operating surface of said compression piston insaid loading chamber, and another exchangeable mould arranged withinsaid central chamber and opposite said first mentioned mould for makingblocks of ice of various cross sectional configurations.

5. An apparatus for compressing carbon dioxide snow into blocks of dryice comprising a central compression chamber, a loading chamber adjacentto and communicating with said central chamber, lateral extensionchambers being in line, adjacent to, and communicating with said centralchamber, a charging piston in said loading chamber, a compression pistonin one of said extension chambers, and a movable closure in the other ofsaid extension chambers, said pistons and movable closure being adaptedto reciprocatingly move toward and from said central chamber and tothereby, move the snow from said loading chamber into said centralchamber and to compress it into a block of dry ice of homogeneousdensity.

JOSEF KOBOLD.

